"Creating a Nature" Opening Reception follow-up

This past Sunday was the opening reception for my exhibit "Creating a Nature: A Fiber Art Exhibit"  I thank everyone who came so very much, there was a ton of love and support during a packed afternoon.  I had family in from the Ann Arbor, Fenton, and the Kalamazoo area. A friend came down from her place up north just for the opening, an artist that has watched me develop in fibers since I was 12 years old was there, and many other local artists and friends came by. I met a number of new people who loved my work to boot!

Thank you to my family who made it out for this reception and my mom who took all the photos for this blog post (I'm horrible at taking photos of anything but my work).  Also to my parents for making dinner post-show and leaving us yummy leftovers.  (Mom just figured out there was a smudge on her camera lens, hence the smudge in the photos!)

Thank you to the Arts Council of Greater Lansing for awarding me the 2012 Individual Artist's Grant.  I have been talking about making pieces on this scale for 2 or more years.  This grant gave me the kick in the pants to actually work with these ideas and start to develop where they're going.

Thank you so much to Deb and Gretel.  They were key parts in helping me hang this show on Friday.  I could not have done it without them.  I was dog tired and my wits hanging by a thread.  I'm glad they both were there because so often I want to do things on my own.  It would not look so well if I had insisted on doing it alone!

Jenny Schu and the last finished piece "In Progress" double weave

I finished "In Progress" the week of the show going up, but it got crazy at our place in the final stretch.  More to come on the individual pieces from this show.  I plan on taking the next week or two to relax some and also bulk up my jewelry stock since I have not been making jewelry lately.

Family Photo Left to right: Zack, me, Ron, Julie, Brittin, Nova, Adam, Kim, Carl

If you missed the opening reception, you still have plenty of time to come by Grove Gallery in the next two months to see the show.  Hours are 12-6 Tuesday-Friday and 12-4 Sat/Sun (closed Mondays).  I'm there most Tuesdays if you have any questions about the show.  Also, the First Sunday Gallery Walk for April we will have some snacks and refreshments and I will be demoing my beadweaving.

And no, I'm not tired of making leaves yet...

This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the

Arts Council of Greater Lansing

Leaf Panel in Blue

After finishing the leaf panel for "She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees" I wanted to make another one (and another...and another....)

Photo by Luke Anthony Photography

I had picked up this little vintage frame at Lamb's Gate Antiques in Old Town Lansing.  It seemed like the perfect base for this leaf panel.  Plus it's not nearly as overwhelmingly large.  The first leaf panel is much more open, and I wanted the leaves on this piece to be a little more packed together.  There was so much going on in it, and I still wanted that negative space within the frame, so I stitched leaves together until I was happy with this shape within the frame.

This piece is 12 in x 10 in x .75 in and will be on display at Grove Gallery for my "Creating a Nature" Exhibit which opens on March 3rd in downtown East Lansing.  If you're close, I hope you can make it out!

 

This activity was made possible in part by a grant from the

Arts Council of Greater Lansing

Happy Valentine's Day, a New Pendant Design

In between working on my larger projects I needed a little break from leaves and St. Petersburg Chain.  Liisa, my boss over at Speaker Law Firm had purchased a bracelet over the holidays and wanted a pendant to match. 

The pendant is a two-drop peyote stitch with tiny brown beaded edging.  It's the same width and pattern as the bracelet.

I did end up making a pair of earrings out of the faceted pink multi color delicas from this set.  Keeping with a brown accent I placed larger lavender seed beads as the middle accents.  These are still available for sale.

Pink and Lavender Pod Earring $55.00

"Creating a Nature: A Fiber Art Exhibit"

Here's what you've all been waiting for!  I know lots of people are probably tired of hearing me say that I'm busy working on my grant project.  It's my first one, so I'm still really excited.  This grant has allowed me to explore so many of my other passions beyond jewelry making throughout this past year.  I have discovered that it is possible to juggle some jewelry making (it's almost a mental break!) while experimenting and problem solving my concepts in beaded sculpture and integrating my weaving in with my beadwork.

"Creating a Nature: A Fiber Art Exhibit"  will be installed and open to the public on March 3rd, 2012.  This is also the opening reception which I will be at!  Please mark your calenders and come see my progress!

Grove Gallery
March 3-April 30, 2013
Opening Reception, meet the artist: Sunday, March 3, 12pm-5pm
Refreshments and snack will be served.
City parking is across the street from the gallery and free every Sunday.

Would you like to RSVP via Facebook?  It's right here on the Jenny Schu Artist Page!

This activity was made possible in part by a grant from the

Arts Council of Greater Lansing

She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees: Finishing Up

 

As you can see from the above photo, "She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees" is coming along nicely.  The "Forest" (woven) panel and the "Leaf" (mixed woven, stitched, beading) panel has been handed over to my photographer Luke Pline.  I'll have the "Trees" panel done this week.

 

It baffles me how long it took for this to come together, but I tend to forget how long it takes me to develop a concept to my own satisfaction, then actually produce it.  Plus the procrastinate on the finishing of a piece for much too long.  This is coming together great and I'm excited to see it up in the gallery rather than in my basement. 

 

 

This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing

Uprooted 1: Finishing Touches

Now that the tendrils have been set, the wood has been oiled and waxed, I get to address the final embellishments for "Uprooted 1"  It's exciting because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and have the wonderful scent of the walnut oil and wax finish in the air and clutching on to my hands as I work.

I had asked local woodworker/artist, Tom Cannon how he finishes his bowls without stain and varnish, just to keep the piece looking natural and he suggested a walnut oil and wax rub.  I looked up ways to make it, but decided that after collecting to ingrdients and taking the time to mix it up, it was faster and easier for me to order it.  I found BowlMakerInc.com and ordered the oil/wax combo.  I'm exremely happy with the outcome. You can find his finishes here.

As I was addressing where to put individual bead accents into parts of the root, it seemed like it was missing something.  There are two areas that needed tendrils "growing" out of them also.  They are much smaller than the original tendrils, and I've gotten a bit quicker at beading these shapes so here I go into 2 more.  They should take 30 hours or less to get done.

 

 

Let the countdown begin.  I swear I will get this piece done soon to have photographed and put on my postcard/exhibit promotion!
 

 



Forest through the Leaves: part 8, Leaf Panel

 

As it turns out, stitching leaves together always takes about five times longer than I think it will in my head.  I've spent over 25 hours sewing this panel together, I cannot even begin to fathom how long all of the leaves took me to make! (ok, 30-45 minutes per leaf x just over 120 leaves is approximately 90+ hours....and I've been hard on myself for slacking.)  It's a good thing that I love to do detailed work. I'm not even close to being sick of making leaves. Rather, I have even more leaf panel designs floating around in mind and my sketchbook.

This panel is made up two different leaf-techniques.  The first is the Russian Beaded Leaf that you see in so many of my jewelry designs.  The second leaf is a new exploration for me, with my handwoven remnants cut and stitched on my sewing machine for the leaf detail.  

The white background doesn't give this panel justice.  I stained the dowel that I'm going to attach it to this morning, so it will soon be hanging free and open.  You'll have to come to my exhibit in March/April to get a good look at it. 

This activity is made possible in part by a
grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing